14 May 1996 89 1996 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF QUEENSLAND VOTES AND PROCEEDINGS NO. 11 SECOND SESSION OF THE FORTY–EIGHTH PARLIAMENT TUESDAY, 14 MAY 1996 C ONTENTS Absence of Premier . 92 Adjournment . 96 Assent to Bills . 90 Attendance . 96 Environmental Protection Amendment Bill 1996 . 94 General Business – Matters of Public Interest . 93 Government Papers . 91, 92 Meeting of Assembly . 90 Ministerial Statements— Child abuse telephone hotline . 91 Death of a patient at John Oxley Memorial Hospital . 92 Explanatory notes – Primary Industries Legislation Amendment Bill . 92 Fuel supply arrangements for whole of government . 92 Government’s response to the Public Accounts Committee Report No. 33 . 91 Queensland Treasury Corporation – Report . 91 Review of the State’s valuations’ system . 92 Six weeks’ paid maternity leave for State public servants . 91 Uniform national gun laws . 91 Notice of Motion— Representation on educational bodies . 95 Notices of Motion . 93 Papers tabled during the recess . 91 Petitions . 90 Private Members’ Statements . 93 Questions without notice . 93 Scrutiny of Legislation Committee— Alert Digest . 92 Select Committee on Procedural Review— Further extension of time to report . 92 Statutory Instruments . 90 90 No. 11 – Tuesday, 14 May 1996 1 M EETING OF ASSEMBLY The Assembly met at 9.30am pursuant to adjournment. The Speaker (Honourable N J Turner) read prayers. 2 A SSENT TO BILLS Message No. 2 from the Governor was reported, informing the Assembly that Her Excellency had, in the name of Her Majesty, assented to the following Bills on 9 May 1996— A Bill for an Act to amend various Acts in relation to Parliamentary Secretaries, and for other purposes (Constitution (Parliamentary Secretaries) Amendment Act 1996 – Act No. 3 of 1996) A Bill for an Act to provide for the use of video link facilities for certain court proceedings (Courts (Video Link) Amendment Act 1996 – Act No. 4 of 1996) A Bill for an Act about limitation periods for choice of law purposes (Choice of Law (Limitation Periods) Act 1996 – Act No. 5 of 1996) A Bill for an Act to amend the Local Government Act 1993 (Local Government Amendment Act 1996 – Act No. 6 of 1996) A Bill for an Act to amend the Land Act 1994 (Land Amendment Act 1996 – Act No. 7 of 1996) A Bill for an Act to amend the Land Title Act 1994 (Land Title Amendment Act 1996 – Act No. 8 of 1996) A Bill for an Act regulating work experience provided to students as part of their education (Education (Work Experience) Act 1996 – Act No. 9 of 1996) 3 P ETITIONS The following petitions, lodged with The Clerk by the Members indicated, were received— Mr Carroll, from 1109 petitioners, requesting the House to reject the Commonwealth Powers (Amendment) Bill or any similar Queensland legislation that might either refer to the Federal Government the state powers over property rights of "defacto marriage" parties or homosexual pairs or create any additional rights for homosexuals. Mr Horan, from 44 petitioners, requesting the House to (a) direct councils to ban the use of traps by the general public for trapping domestic pet cats and that any such trapping of injured, stray or wild cats only be undertaken by the RSPCA or council personnel under strict conditions as they relate to the Animal Protection Act and (b) address the control of excess populations of cats, and to encourage desexing of cats with subsidies and, if favoured, overnight curfews, registration and compulsory identification of cats. Mr Rowell, from 196 petitioners, requesting the House that in the event of the realignment of the boundaries in the Mission Beach area, that Bingil Bay remains in the Johnstone Shire. 4 S TATUTORY INSTRUMENTS The following statutory instruments were tabled by The Clerk— Acts Interpretation Act 1954— Criminal Code Regulation 1996, No. 84 Coal Industry (Control) Act 1948— Coal Industry (Control) Amendment Regulation (No .2) 1996, No. 92 Coal Mining Act 1925— Coal Mining (Moranbah North) Exemption Order 1996, No. 91 Crimes (Confiscation) Act 1989— Crimes (Confiscation) Regulation 1996, No. 89 Criminal Code [1995]— Criminal Code Regulation 1996, No. 84 Electricity Act 1994— Electricity Amendment Regulation (No. 1) 1996, No. 86 No. 11 – Tuesday, 14 May 1996 91 Hospitals Foundations Act 1982— Hospitals Foundation (Townsville General Hospital Foundation) Rule 1996, No. 90 Lotteries Act 1994— Lotteries Rule 1996, No. 93 Queensland Cement & Lime Company Limited Agreement Act 1977— Queensland Cement & Lime Company Limited Agreement Amendment Order (No. 1) 1996, No. 85 State Development and Public Works Organization 1971— State Development and Public Works Organisation (State Development Area) Regulation 1996, No. 82 Statutory Bodies Financial Arrangements Act 1982— Statutory Bodies Financial Arrangements (Application of Parts 4 and 5) Amendment Regulation (No. 1) 1996, No. 83 Traffic Act 1949— Traffic and Transport Amendment Regulation (No. 1) 1996, No. 88 Transport Infrastructure (Roads) Act 1991— Traffic and Transport Amendment Regulation (No. 1) 1996, No. 88 Water Resources Act 1989— Water Resources (Avondale Water Supply Area and Water Board) Regulation 1996, No. 87 5 P APERS TABLED DURING THE RECESS The Clerk informed the House that the following papers, received during the recess, were tabled on the dates indicated— 3 May 1996— Valuers Registration Board of Queensland – Annual Report 1995 13 May 1996— Lang Park Trust – Annual Report 1995 6 GOVERNMENT PAPER The following paper was tabled— Deputy Premier, Treasurer and Minister for the Arts (Mrs Sheldon)— Report in relation to third party premiums – 1 July 1996 7 M INISTERIAL STATEMENTS (a) Deputy Premier, Treasurer and Minister for the Arts (Mrs Sheldon), by leave, made ministerial statements relating to— (i) Queensland Treasury Corporation – Half yearly report to 31 December 1995; (ii) six weeks’ paid maternity leave for State public servants; and (iii) the Government’s response to the Public Accounts Committee Report No. 33 on the standard of preparation and timeliness of departmental statements. Paper: Mrs Sheldon, during her first statement, tabled the following paper— Queensland Treasury Corporation – Half yearly report to 31 December 1995 (b) Minister for Families, Youth and Community Care (Mr Lingard), by leave, made a ministerial statement relating to a child abuse telephone hotline. (c) Minister for Police and Corrective Services and Minister for Racing (Mr Cooper), by leave, made a ministerial statement relating to uniform national gun laws. Paper: Mr Cooper, during his statement, tabled the following papers— Statement, dated 10 May 1996, by the Prime Minister concerning gun control Australian Police Ministers’ Council – Resolutions from special firearms meeting held in Canberra on 10 May 1996 92 No. 11 – Tuesday, 14 May 1996 (d) Minister for Health (Mr Horan), by leave, made a ministerial statement relating to the death of a patient at John Oxley Memorial Hospital. Paper: Mr Horan, during his statement, tabled the following paper— Inquiry under section 9 of the Mental Health Act 1974 into incidents at the John Oxley Memorial Hospital (e) Minister for Primary Industries, Fisheries and Forestry (Mr Perrett), by leave, made ministerial statements relating to— (i) corrections to the explanatory notes accompanying the Primary Industries Legislation Amendment Bill 1996; and (ii) an article in The Courier–Mail dated 13 May 1996 by Mr Terry Black Paper: Mr Perrett, during his first statement, tabled the following paper— List of corrections to the explanatory notes accompanying the Primary Industries Legislation Amendment Bill 8 GOVERNMENT PAPERS The following papers were tabled— Minister for Local Government and Planning (Mrs McCauley)— Under the Local Government Act 1993— (i) A copy of a notification to the Local Government Commissioner dated 16 April 1996 withdrawing part of a reference to the Local Government Commissioner dated 20 March 1996 in relation to a reviewable local government matter in respect of the Council of the City of Caloundra; (ii) A copy of each of the final reports of the Local Government Commissioner on the review of the external boundaries of the following local governments— Shire of Dalrymple and the City of Charters Towers; Shire of Maroochy and the Shire of Noosa; Shire of Kilkivan and the Shire of Cooloola; City of Caloundra and the Shire of Caboolture; Shire of Calliope and the Shire of Monto; City of Caloundra and the Shire of Maroochy; and Shire of Cooloola and the Shire of Noosa 9 M INISTERIAL STATEMENTS (a) Minister for Natural Resources (Mr Hobbs), by leave, made a ministerial statement relating to a review of the State’s valuations’ system. (b) Minister for Public Works and Housing (Mr Connor), by leave, made a ministerial statement relating to fuel supply arrangements for whole of government. Paper: Mr Connor, during his statement, tabled the following paper— Government response to Public Accounts Committee Report No. 34 on the use of fuel cards in the public sector 10 ABSENCE OF PREMIER Leader of Government Business (Mr FitzGerald) informed the House that the Premier will be absent from the House today as he is attending the Indonesian Trade Summit in Jakarta. 11 SELECT COMMITTEE ON PROCEDURAL REVIEW – FURTHER EXTENSION OF TIME TO REPORT Leader of Government Business (Mr FitzGerald), by leave, moved — That the Select Committee on Procedural Review be granted an extension of time until 9 July 1996 to enable the Committee to complete its report on the estimates process. Question put and passed. 12 SCRUTINY OF LEGISLATION COMMITTEE – ALERT DIGEST Chairman of the Scrutiny of Legislation Committee (Mr Elliott) tabled the following paper— Scrutiny of Legislation Committee – Alert Digest No. 3 for 1996 No. 11 – Tuesday, 14 May 1996 93 13 NOTICES OF MOTION 14 PRIVATE MEMBERS’ STATEMENTS Private Members’ Statements were made 15 QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE Questions without notice were asked. Paper: Leader of the Opposition (Mr Beattie) tabled the following paper— Extract from The Courier–Mail entitled “Government urged to speed public works projects” Questions continued.